The Sidelines
by RomanticFollies
Summary: As Diane stresses over work and judgeship, Kurt does his best to keep her steady.
1. Chapter 1

"Should we toast o Judge Lockhart?" Kurt held up his beer, clinking glasses with her red wine.

"Aren't you being a bit hasty?"

"I don't think so, just trying to bring good luck." Kurt took a sip of his beer and looked over at his fiancée. Even through the smile and the make-up, Kurt could see how tired Diane had become. All week the woman had been on edge about this campaign, and for good reasons. She would rush home from work to catch the polls on the news and every morning wake up early to see if there was any change. Constantly she was being pulled left and right by Kalinda or Eli as they dug up her past. Some nights she had not been able to sleep at all due to the worrying and stress. One percentage drop for Peter and she would act like it was the end of the world. Not to mention having to fire her house keeper for writing fanfiction, Diane was heartbroken over that.

He stayed in his place, on the sideline. Kurt would help out when he could and as the Election Day came closer and closer, he was needed more and more. Some days it would be nothing more than making dinner, taking Justice on a walk, or running errands. Other days he would have to leave his work or a case behind to console her. It was nothing major, but for the past few months he made sure he was there for her, helping her through the rough patches. Finally though, only one more day of chaos, and finally they could both relax.

"Remember to vote early tomorrow," Diane reminded him as she looked over the menu, deciding on what to order. But then, she paused and locked eyes with Kurt. "Who are you voting for?"

"That's personal."

"You're not really going to vote for Kresteva…are you?" The worried look was back in her eyes again, that same look she had when watching poll updates on the news.

"Diane, who do you think I am?"

"Oh my god, you are!"

He was not sure whether to laugh or stay serious. "I can honestly say for the first time in my life, I'm voting for a democrat." He must really love this woman. Obviously voting for Peter because was a vote for Diane, but Kurt actually liked the guy too. He seemed much less of a fake compared to Kresteva.

"I'm sorry, I'm…," she looked flustered, a bit dazed from lack of sleep, "I've been waiting a long time for this-"

"I know," he leaned forward, taking her hand in his, squeezing it gently to reassure her. Suddenly going out to dinner seemed like an idiotic idea. "Do you want to head back to the apartment? Order Chinese or something?"

"Sounds wonderful." Kurt could not help smiling after hearing her tone becoming more relaxed. However, as they put on their coats and Kurt paid for their drinks, Diane's blasted cell phone went off.

"I hate that thing," Kurt pointed to the small object in her hand.

"It's probably nothing," Diane quickly pulled the phone to her ear, "Alicia? Wait, what about voter fraud? You'll have to speak up." For a moment, she looked over at Kurt and he knew there was trouble. "Yes, right…call Kalinda…and Will." She hung up the phone and did not say anything for a moment, but Kurt could see she was figuring out a way to apologize to him.

"Go, be a good lawyer," Kurt came over and helped her pull on her jacket.

"Thank you," she straightened out her coat and took a deep breath, already preparing herself for the court room battle. And then, just like that, she was off, practically running out the door. Kurt grabbed his own coat and left the other direction, to their apartment.

It was long past midnight when the house phone rang. Kurt was standing in the kitchen, keeping an eye on his dinner in the oven while listening to the radio. He had no idea what this sudden case was, something to do with voter fraud. It worried him that Diane rushed out the door so quickly without explaining what was happening. Then, for her to still be in court for over three hours. Something had to be terribly wrong. After another sip of his beer, he placed it on the counter and reached for the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey."

"Hey."

"We have a bit of a problem. It's going to take longer than I thought."

"Okay."

"It doesn't look like Peter is going to win." Kurt could hear Diane let out a long sigh on the other end of the phone.

"Where are you?"

"In my car. I'm supposed to be at another court room with Will and Alicia but…I needed to call you." Now the sighs turned into sniffles. Kurt rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. He wanted to be there with her, to help her in some way.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"What? Yeah, I-I'm fine…tired and I have a pounding headache," she paused for a moment, "and now I need to freshen up my make-up." It was obvious she was trying to hold back a sob.

"Okay."

"Okay, love you."

"You sure you don't need anything?"

"No, no." Diane cleared her throat, a sign to Kurt that she was putting her battle shield on again, "I have to go now."

"Bye." Kurt placed the phone down. He felt the urge to quickly call her back or get in the car and drive over to her. He wanted to force her to come home and call it quits for now, let Will and Alicia handle this case…but he did not do any of those things. No, Kurt took a sip of his beer and went back into the kitchen. They only had to go through twenty-four more hours. Just this last day and no matter what the results are, it would be over with and things could readjust again.

Sometime into the night, he heard the front door open. It had to of been her. Kurt lifted his head, the clock read five AM. Five hours since he last heard from Diane, and when they last spoke she was near breaking point. Now, he could not imagine the state she was in. When he realized she was not coming upstairs, Kurt pushed away the covers and planted his feet firm on the ground. He reached for his robe, pulling it over him before leaving for downstairs.

"Diane?" No answer. He scratched his head and walked into the living room. There was not a single movement. He could have sworn he heard the door open.

Then, he saw a pairs of heels, kicked off to the side of the room, followed by a purse, and finally a coat draped over the couch. Kurt walked further into the room, discovering Diane Lockhart passed out on their leather couch. Her hair was covering her face and she was clutching onto a pillow tightly as she slept so soundly. He thought about leaving her there, she looked too peaceful to disturb.

"Diane?" he gently placed his hand on her shoulder, however she did not budge. With a sigh, he walked over to the other side of the couch, sitting next to her. Once again he repeated her name, this time brushing a lock of hair away from her face.

"Mmhmm?" she opened her eyes, blinking a few times to adjust to the darkness.

"I'm taking you to bed."

"Aren't I in bed?" she asked, closing her eyes again.

"Not yet."

"We lost," Diane mumbled, not moving an inch.

"The polls don't open-"

"In court…we lost." He stayed quiet, knowing there was nothing he could say. Slowly, Diane sat up and let Kurt help her off the couch. He wrapped his arm around her as they walked up the steps, her head resting on his shoulder. Once she was in bed, he pulled off her stockings and dress, throwing them onto a chair. Diane found her way under the covers, instantly falling back to sleep again. Tomorrow they would talk about the case and the campaign. For now, he would get back into bed, wrap his arms around Diane, and let her sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

"Alicia, are you sure it will work?"

Kurt rubbed his eyes and tried to focus on what was happening. Diane was sitting up in bed, obviously on the phone. She was still in her underwear with the sheets covering her legs.

"And you called Will? No, no I'll be there." Diane hung up the phone and dropped it carelessly in front of her. She paused, running a hand through her hair and pulling her legs close to her chest.

"What time is it?" Kurt asked, still half asleep.

"I have no idea, go back to sleep." Her tone was sharp, cranky. Kurt wanted to tell her the same thing, but she was already getting out of bed.

"Court?"

"Yes, but it shouldn't take long."

"Let's hope so." He laid back down and closed his eyes again, but there was no way he would be able to sleep now. He listened as Diane went through the many outfits in her closet. He heard the rustling of the hangers as she pushed each articles of clothing aside. Even with his eyes closed, he could tell exactly where Diane was while she walked back and forth from the bathroom to the closet, changing outfits probably five times. Even when running late she had to look her best.

This happened every morning as she got ready for work, but this time it was different. She would pause quit often, most likely trying to pull herself together before leaving. There were longing sighs escaping from her as she moved around the bedroom. At some point all the noises, the sighs, the hangers, doors opening and closing, all blurred together as Kurt fell back asleep.

Once Kurt woke up again, the sun was shining into the room. He had hoped Diane would be back by now, since it was past nine, but the right side of the bed was empty. There were no new messages or voicemails on his phone either. Before heading to work, he would call her to make sure everything was okay. Kurt spent some time to shower and dress into a pair of jeans and plaid shirt. After putting on his boots and took a quick glance in the mirror, he headed downstairs to make his coffee. However, as he descended down the steps, there was another pair of heels in the corner, right next to the other shoes she kicked off only a few hours ago. Kurt smiled gently. Next to that, her purse clumsy dropped to the side, a few of her things slipping out, and finally the coat just barely clinging onto the couch. For the second time, Diane was sprawled out on the couch, fast asleep. This time he would not disturb her. No, he went to quietly make his coffee before heading to work.

Just as he was about to pull his coat on and head out the door, Kurt scribbled a small note for her. _Working. Call me. I'm here for you._ He wondered what had happened to her case, if she won or not, how it would affect the votes. However, for now Kurt laid the note down in the kitchen and left Diane undisturbed on the couch.

He drove to his farm and began working on a recent case, a simple homicide that would go to court in about a month or so. He spent a long part of the day doing paperwork as well as trial and error with many, many guns. All day he had not heard from Diane, which was expected. He figured she was either still asleep or glued to the screen, watching as the poll results came in. Still, he worried about her. While typing on his laptop, he would suddenly pause, forgetting his place. Kurt's mind wondered back to last night as he practically carried Diane to bed. After looking over his notes and photos, he could not remember what he was searching for, but instead went over the conversation they had last night at dinner. As he headed back into the office to make another cup of coffee, he wondered if Diane read the note he left her. He wondered if she slept all day on the couch.

Then Kurt remembered, he never voted. Diane will murder him. Quickly, he saved everything on his laptop, packed up his brief case, and rushed out the door. The lines were long, but Kurt got his ballot in. All votes for the republican side, all except for Peter Florrick. He slipped the ballot in, feeling confident in himself and relieved to know Diane will not be coming after him. However, he would never let anybody know he actually voted for a democrat. That could stay between him and Diane. As he finished at the voting booth, his cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"When are you coming back?"

"Now."

"Good," Diane then quickly added, "I read your note."

"Oh?"

"I miss you."

"How did court go?" Kurt knew she would not like him changing the subject so abruptly.

"What? Oh…it went in our favor…I think Peter now has a chance."

"Good. I'll be back in ten minutes."

"Okay. I'll be waiting."

He hung up the phone and got into his car, not wasting a moment to get home. Diane was still on the couch when he opened the door, only no longer asleep. The news was buzzing in the background as voting booths began to close. Diane turned around, smiling when she saw him. She was stunning in that moment. After weeks of jitters and nerves, Diane finally looked peaceful. She was out of her dress and in her silk pajamas, without a trace of make-up on. And yet, she was beautiful. There was an open bottle of wine with two glasses sitting on the coffee table, one glass filled halfway.

"Polls are finally closing, did you vote?"

"Yes, I did," Kurt nodded and removed his coat. He glanced over the couch and noticed his note next to the wine glasses. "How long did you sleep for?"

"I don't even know," She ran a hand through her hair and smiled again, "last night was…draining."

"I noticed. Did you eat anything?" He sat down next to her, propping his feet against the coffee table.

"Coffee, and now wine," she leaned forward and picked up her glass. "Thank you, by the way." He looked at her, a bit confused, "for being here."

"I should have helped out more."

"You did plenty," Diane pulled his arm around her and leaned against him, focusing on the television again. The two stayed like this for a while, watching the news and going through a bottle of wine. They did not say much to one another. At one point, Kurt ordered Diane to eat something, but other than that they stayed at the apartment and did absolutely nothing productive.

As the numbers continued to come in, things continued to look better and better for Peter. Diane was absolutely thrilled and Kurt held back any negative comments about having a democratic governor. Before the end of the night, it was clear who the winner was. By this point, the couple were both in their pajamas, almost done with their second bottle of win,e and all the Chinese food they ordered. Diane was slightly tipsy as she finished off the last of the bottle.

"I think the whole system is insane. All these people spending hours trying to calculate how the polls will turn out," Diane stood up and walked into the kitchen. A part of Kurt wanted to stop her from her obvious drunk rambling…but the other part of him was enjoying this immensely, "Then, based off of some silly prediction we spend millions and millions of tax dollars trying to sway the voters even though there is no need to sway them." Her rambling came to an end as she sat down next to Kurt again, holding their last bottle of wine. She began to open it, when the news caught her attention. "Does that say 96 percent?" She looked at the television, quit amazed.

"It does," Kurt was not even bothering with the television, his eyes were on Diane. Her smile has never been wider. She was more than one step closer to judgeship, she was practically in the seat now and Diane knew that. In a swift moment, Diane pulled Kurt into a hug and kissed him. She was clearly filled with excitement, which was only multiplied from the amount of wine she had in her.

"So, the ballots, those votes from the trial meant nothing," Diane stayed close to Kurt, her face only a few inches away from him.

"They didn't mean nothing." He looked at her and placed his hand on her arm, squeezing it gently. "Your party won, you should be celebrating."

"You're right, I should." Without any hesitation, she kissed him again. Somehow he managed to move the bottle of wine out of her hands and place it on the coffee table without leaving her lips. Her hands were rather eager from her excitement as she tried to remove his shirt. Clumsy she undid each button on his shirt before pushing it off his shoulders. Kurt pulled Diane closer to him, onto his lap, into another kiss. Her lips were simply irresistible. He was so thankful the woman was in pajamas. How easy it was to pull the silk top off, unlike the many dresses and blouses she would usually be wearing. Sometimes removing her clothes was like solving a puzzle as he tried to find the many zippers and buttons. However, even with how easy it was, just as he removed her top, Diane was scrambling to put it back on again. Her cell phone was ringing.

"It might be important," she explained to Kurt as she reached for her phone. However, she did not remove herself from his lap. "Eli? I know I've been watching…now?" She looked at the time on her phone, "well, umm," now Diane's attention was diverted back to Kurt as he kissed her neck and shoulder. He knew why Eli was calling, and he knew very well that there was no way Diane would be going to that party. "I better stay in tonight, but tell Peter congratulations." She hung up the phone and looked back at Kurt.

"You're not going?"

"No," Diane shook her head. "I have someone more important to be with." She placed her phone next to the empty glasses just in time before Kurt kissed her again.

He felt like a bit of a babysitter this past week, watching over Diane's shoulder to make sure she was not overworking herself or in a constant state of worry. She probably would have managed through this on her own, but he was still glad to be there for her during those nights she would need someone to vent to or help her get into bed. She had gone through months of her past being dug up, hours of overworking, and days filled with regret. It was not over yet, but a milestone was reached today and even though he was on the sidelines, Kurt was glad he was there to assist. He really did love the woman. He loved how strong and confident she could be, but was not afraid to also be vulnerable and human. Yes, he loved her and will continue to be there for her.


End file.
